Printer

ABSTRACT

A printer has a paper sheet output tray for receiving a printed paper sheet emitted from a paper sheet outlet of a housing of the printer. The paper sheet output tray is comprised of a pull-out tray that can be freely pulled out, an extension tray that can be freely pulled out from the pull-out tray and a stopper rotatably pivoted by the extension tray at a position shifted from its center. The pull-out tray has a holding portion for holding the stopper so as to be in substantially parallel position when the extension tray is put in. When the extension tray is pulled out from the pull-out tray, holding of the stopper by the holding portion is released, the stopper is rotated by self-weight and an end of the stopper protrudes from the top face of the extension tray. Thus, the stopper prevents bounce-out of the paper sheet.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a printer that prints an image on a paper sheet and receives the printed paper sheet on a paper sheet output tray.

2. Description of the Related Art

In a conventional printer that prints an image on a paper sheet, the printed paper sheet is emitted from a paper sheet outlet formed on a housing of the printer and received on a paper sheet output tray. In such a printer, the paper sheet output tray is inclined upwards so that the paper sheet emitted from the paper sheet outlet does not bounce out of the paper sheet output tray.

In a known paper sheet output tray which is, for example, shown in Japanese Laid-Open Utility Model Publication No. 55-35550, a stopper for stopping movement of the emitted paper sheet is rotatably pivoted, and the stopper is pulled up by placing a finger at a finger hold portion, so that the movement of the emitted paper sheet is stopped by the stopper.

In another known paper sheet output tray which is, for example, shown in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2002-114434, a wire tray, on which a stopper portion inclined obliquely to the upper side is formed, is further provided at a front end of a pull-out tray of the paper sheet outlet tray in a paper sheet emitting direction. Thus, the paper sheet emitted from a paper sheet outlet contacts with the stopper portion of the wire tray, so that it is possible to prevent the dropout of the paper sheet from the paper sheet outlet tray.

However, in the above-mentioned conventional printer, when the paper sheet is emitted, the paper sheet may not be completely emitted from the paper sheet outlet due to upward inclination of the paper sheet output tray as well as static electricity occurred between the paper sheet and the paper sheet output tray. Thus, it is considered that a stopper for stopping the movement of the paper sheet is provided on the paper sheet output tray in place of inclining the paper sheet output tray so that the paper sheet does not bounce out of the paper sheet output tray.

However, in a case that the stopper is provided on the paper sheet output tray in this manner, it is desired to make the stopper inconspicuous in terms of design. Thus, the configuration in which a movable stopper is set while the printer is used and stored while the printer is not used is conceivable. When the stopper is made movable in this manner, it is desired to facilitate setting and storing of the stopper by a user. Even when contents disclosed in the above-mentioned prior arts are applied, the above-mentioned problem cannot be solved.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A purpose of the present invention is to provide a printer that can automatically set a stopper for preventing bounce-out of the paper sheet only by pulling out a paper sheet output tray and also improve design when the paper sheet output tray is closed.

A printer in accordance with an aspect of the invention comprises: an image forming unit for printing an image on a paper sheet; a paper sheet feeding mechanism for feeding a paper sheet from a paper rest to the image forming unit; a housing containing the image forming unit and the paper sheet feeding mechanism, and having a paper sheet outlet through which a printed paper sheet is emitted; and a paper sheet output tray for receiving the printed paper sheet emitted from the paper sheet outlet of the housing.

The paper sheet output tray has an extension tray that can be freely pulled out from or put in the paper sheet outlet tray for extending a tray and a stopper provided at the extension tray for preventing the paper sheet emitted from the paper sheet outlet from bouncing out of the paper sheet outlet tray.

An opening, in which the stopper rises up or lays down, is formed on the extension tray.

The stopper is rotatably pivoted in the opening so that a first end of the stopper protrudes upwards with respect to a top face of the extension tray by self-weight and a second end of the stopper protrudes downwards with respect to a bottom face of the extension tray.

A holding portion is further provided on the paper sheet output tray for contacting with a bottom face of the stopper and rotating the stopper when the extension tray is put in, thereby holding the stopper so that the-first end of the stopper does not protrude from the top face of the extension tray.

When the extension tray is pulled out, holding of the stopper by the holding portion is released, the stopper is rotated by self-weight and the first end of the stopper protrudes from the top face of the extension tray.

By such a configuration, only by pulling out the extension tray, the first end of the stopper automatically protrudes from the top face of the extension tray and thus the paper sheet emitted from the paper sheet outlet can be stopped by the stopper, thereby preventing the paper sheet from bouncing out of the paper sheet output tray. Furthermore, when the extension tray is put in, since the first end of the stopper does not automatically protrude from the top face of the extension tray, the stopper is made inconspicuous and design in the state where the extension tray is put in is improved.

Furthermore, it is possible that the stopper is a flat plate formed so as to substantially match with the opening in shape, and when the stopper is in substantially parallel with the top face of the extension tray, the stopper fits to the opening to form the substantially same flat face as the top face of the extension tray, and when the extension tray is put in, the holding portion holds the stopper to be in substantially parallel with the top face of the extension tray.

By such a configuration, when the extension tray is put in, the stopper fits to the opening of the extension tray to form the substantially same as the top face of the extension tray. Thus, design in the state where the extension tray is put in is further improved.

Still furthermore, it is possible that the paper sheet output tray further has a pull out tray that can be freely pulled out from or put in the housing; and the extension tray can be freely pulled out from or put in the pull-out tray.

Still furthermore, it is possible that the stopper has a pair of shafts provided at positions shifted from a center axis of the stopper; and the extension tray has a pair of bearing holes to which the shafts of the stopper is inserted for rotatably pivoting the stopper.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a perspective view showing a configuration of a printer in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention in a state that a paper sheet output tray is put in;

FIG. 1B is a perspective view showing a part of the printer in a state that a pull-out tray is pulled out from the paper sheet output tray;

FIG. 1C is a perspective view showing a part of the printer in a state that the pull-out tray and an extension tray are pulled out from the paper sheet output tray;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing a configuration of the paper sheet output tray of the printer;

FIG. 3A is a sectional view taken along a II-II line of FIG. 2 showing a state that the extension tray is pulled out from the pull-out tray;

FIG. 3B is a sectional view taken along the II-II line of FIG. 2 showing a state that the extension tray is being put in the pull-out tray; and

FIG. 3C is a sectional view taken along the II-II line of FIG. 2 showing a state that the extension tray is put in the pull-out tray.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENT

A printer in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to figures. FIGS. 1A, 1B and 1C show a configuration of the printer. The printer 1 is used for printing an image on a paper sheet 2 on the basis of an image data input from a digital camera, personal computer, or the like.

The printer 1 has a paper rest 3 on which one or more paper sheet 2 is placed, feed rollers 4 and 5 included in a paper sheet feeding mechanism, a printing head 6 included in an image forming unit for printing an image on the paper sheet 2, a paper sheet output tray 7 for receiving the paper sheet 2 on which the image is recorded, and a housing 8 for containing the paper sheet feeding mechanism and the image forming unit therein. The housing 8 is provided with a paper sheet inlet 11 for feeding the paper sheet 2 and a paper sheet outlet 82 for emitting the paper sheet 2.

As for the paper sheet 2, various kinds and sizes such as A4 size and letter size of cut paper sheets can be used, and one or more paper sheets is placed on the paper rest 3 in a manner so that lower end of the paper sheet 2 is inserted into the paper sheet inlet 11 of the exterior case 8. The feed roller 4 feeds the paper sheet 2 from the paper rest 3 to the feed roller 5. The feed roller 5 feeds the paper sheet 2 fed by the feed roller 4 to the paper sheet outlet 12 of the housing 8 through below the printing head 6. The printing head 6 prints an image on the paper sheet 2 while it is fed by the feed roller 5.

The paper sheet output tray 7 is configured so as to be freely pulled out from or put in the paper sheet outlet 12. The paper sheet outlet tray 7 has a pull-out tray 20 capable of being freely pulled out from or put in the housing 8 and an extension tray 30 capable of being freely pulled out from or put in the pull-out tray 20. The paper sheet output tray 7 further has a stopper 40 for preventing the paper sheet 2 emitted from the paper sheet outlet 12 from bouncing out of the paper sheet output tray 7. The stopper 40 is rotatably pivoted by the extension tray 30 and configured so as to be in a vertical position when the extension tray 30 is pulled out from the pull-out tray 20 and to be in a horizontal position when the extension tray 30 is put in the pull-out tray 20. Details of the paper sheet output tray 7 will be described later.

In the printer 1 with such a configuration, the paper sheet 2 placed on the paper rest 3 is fed by the paper sheet feeding mechanism including the feed rollers 4 and 5 and an image is recorded on the paper sheet 2 by the image forming unit including the printing head 6. Then, the paper sheet 2 on which the image is recorded is emitted from the paper sheet outlet 12 of the housing 8. At this time, when the extension tray 30 is pulled out from the pull-out tray 20, the paper sheet 2 emitted from the paper sheet outlet 12 is stopped by the stopper 40, thereby being received in the paper sheet output tray 7 without bouncing out.

FIG. 2 shows the configuration of the paper sheet output tray 7. As described above, the paper sheet output tray 7 has the pull-out tray 20, the extension tray 30 and the stopper 40. The pull-out tray 20 has a pair of pull-out rails 21 by sidably engaged the pull-out rails 21 with a pair of grooves (not shown) formed on the housing 8, thereby, the pull-out tray 20 can be freely pulled out from or put in the housing 8 The pull-out tray 20 further has a pair of pull-out grooves 22 for supporting the extension tray 30 to be freely pulled out from or put in the pull-out tray 20 and a holding portion 23 for changing position of the stopper 40 and for holding the stopper 40 thereon.

The extension tray 30 has a pair of extension rails 31 slidably engaged with the pull-out grooves 22 of the pull-out tray 20, so that the extension tray 30 can be freely pulled out from or put in the pull-out tray 20. The extension tray 30 is further provided with an opening 32 in which the stopper 40 rises up or lies down and has a pair of bearing holes 33 for rotatably pivoting the stopper 40.

The stopper 40 has a pair of shafts 41 and the shafts 41 are respectively inserted into the bearing holes 33 of the extension tray 30, so that the stopper 40 is rotatably pivoted by the bearing holes 33 in the opening 32 of the extension tray 30. The shafts 41 are provided at positions shifted from a center axis of the stopper 40. Thus, the stopper 40 can be rotated by self-weight to form an angle of about 90 degrees with respect to a top face of the extension tray 30. When the stopper 40 is held in a position to form the angle of about 90 degrees with respect to the top face of the extension tray 30, a first end 40 a (positioned at a smaller distance from the shafts 41) of the stopper 40 protrudes upwards with the respect to the top face of the extension tray 30 and a second end 40 b (positioned at a larger distance from the shafts 41) of the stopper 40 protrudes downwards with the respect to a bottom face of the extension tray 30.

The stopper 40 has a protrusion 42 on a bottom face thereof n the vicinity of the second end 40 b. When the extension tray 30 is put in the pull-out tray 20, the protrusion 42 comes into contact with the holding portion 23 of the pull-out tray 20, thereby holding the stopper 40 to be in substantially parallel with the top face of the extension tray 30. The stopper 40 is a flat plate formed so as to substantially match with the opening 32 of the extension tray 30 in shape, so that the stopper 40 can fit to the opening 32 to form the substantially same flat face as the top face of the extension tray 30.

FIGS. 3A, 3B and 3C show the motion of the paper sheet output tray 7. As shown in FIG. 3A, when the extension tray 30 is pulled out from the pull-out tray 20, there is no holding portion 23 of the pull-out tray 20 below the stopper 43. Thus, the stopper 40 is rotated by self-weight to form an angle of about 90 degrees with respect to the upper face of the extension tray 30. The first end 40 a of the stopper 40 protrudes upwards with the respect to the top face of the extension tray 30 and the second end 40 b of the stopper 40 protrudes downwards with the respect to the bottom face of the extension tray 30. In this state, as shown in FIG. 1C, the paper sheet 2 emitted from the paper sheet outlet 12 is stopped by the stopper 40, thereby preventing bounce-out from the paper sheet output tray 7.

As shown in FIG. 3B, when the extension tray 30 is put in the pull-out tray 20 in a direction shown by arrow A from this state, the second end 40 b of the stopper 40 protruding downwards with respect to the bottom face of the extension tray 30 contacts with a front end of the holding portion 23 of the pull-out tray 20, thereby that the stopper 40 is rotated in the direction shown by arrow B so that the second end 40 b is pushed up by the holding portion 23.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 3C, when the extension tray 30 is fully put in the pull-out tray 20, a lower end of the protrusion 42 runs onto the top face of the holding portion 23, thereby holding the stopper 40 to be in substantially parallel with the top face of the extension tray 30. In such a state, as shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, the stopper 40 fits to the opening 32 to form the substantially same flat face as the top face of the extension tray 30 and made inconspicuous.

When the extension tray 30 is being pulled out from the pull-out tray 20, holding of the stopper 40 by the holding portion 23 is released. Thus, the stopper 40 is rotated by self-weight and held to form an angle of about 90 degrees with respect to the upper face of the extension tray 30 by self-weight, as shown in FIG. 3A.

In the printer 1 with such a configuration, only by pulling out the extension tray 30 from the pull-out tray 20, the first end 40 a of the stopper 40 automatically protrudes from the top face of the extension tray 30. Thus, the paper sheet 2 emitted from the paper sheet outlet 12 can be stopped by the stopper 40, thereby preventing the paper sheet 2 from bouncing out of the paper sheet output tray 7. When the extension tray 30 is put in the pull-out tray 20, the first end 40 a of the stopper 40 protrude from the top face of the extension tray 30 is automatically pulled in. As a result, the stopper 40 is made inconspicuous and design is improved when the extension tray 30 is put in the pull-out tray 20. Moreover, when the extension tray 30 is put in the pull-out tray 20, the stopper 40 fits to the opening 32 to form the substantially same flat face as the top face of the extension tray 30 and thus design is further improved.

The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment and various modifications are possible. For example, in this embodiment, the paper sheet output tray 7 need not have the pull-out tray 20. In such a case, the extension tray 30 may be freely pulled out from or put in the housing 8 and the holding portion 23 may be provided at the housing 8. A plurality of stoppers 40 may be arranged in the direction perpendicular to the direction of emitting the paper sheet 2. The shafts 41 of the stopper 40 are not necessarily provided at a position shifted from the center axis of the stopper 40, and the stopper 40 may be held by self-weight so as to form an angle of about 90 degrees with respect to the top face of the extension tray 30 by adjusting its balance by changing thickness or shape or providing a weight.

This application is based on Japanese patent application 2004-197277 filed Jul. 2, 2004 in Japan, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by references.

Although the present invention has been fully described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that various changes and modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Therefore, unless otherwise such changes and modifications depart from the scope of the present invention, they should be construed as being included therein. 

1. A printer comprising: an image forming unit for printing an image on a paper sheet; a paper sheet feeding mechanism for feeding a paper sheet from a paper rest to the image forming unit; a housing containing the image forming unit and the paper sheet feeding mechanism, and having a paper sheet outlet through which a printed paper sheet is emitted; and a paper sheet output tray for receiving the printed paper sheet emitted from the paper sheet outlet of the housing, wherein the paper sheet output tray has an extension tray that can be freely pulled out from or put in the paper sheet outlet tray for extending a tray and a stopper provided at the extension tray for preventing the paper sheet emitted from the paper sheet outlet from bouncing out of the paper sheet outlet tray; an opening, in which the stopper rises up or lays down, is formed on the extension tray; the stopper is rotatably pivoted in the opening so that a first end of the stopper protrudes upwards with respect to a top face of the extension tray by self-weight and a second end of the stopper protrudes downwards with respect to a bottom face of the extension tray; and a holding portion is further provided on the paper sheet output tray for contacting with a bottom face of the stopper and rotating the stopper when the extension tray is put in, thereby holding the stopper so that the first end of the stopper does not protrude from the top face of the extension tray, and when the extension tray is pulled out, holding of the stopper by the holding portion is released, the stopper is rotated by self-weight and the first end of the stopper protrudes from the top face of the extension tray.
 2. The printer in accordance with claim 1, wherein the stopper is a flat plate formed so as to substantially match with the opening in shape, and when the stopper is in substantially parallel with the top face of the extension tray, the stopper fits to the opening to form the substantially same flat face as the top face of the extension tray, and when the extension tray is put in, the holding portion holds the stopper to be in substantially parallel with the top face of the extension tray.
 3. The printer in accordance with claim 1, wherein the paper sheet output tray further has a pull out tray that can be freely pulled out from or put in the housing; and the extension tray can be freely pulled out from or put in the pull-out tray.
 4. The printer in accordance with claim 1, wherein the stopper has a pair of shafts provided at positions shifted from a center axis of the stopper; and the extension tray has a pair of bearing holes to which the shafts of the stopper is inserted for rotatably pivoting the stopper.
 5. A printer comprising: an image forming unit for printing an image on a paper sheet; a paper sheet feeding mechanism for feeding a paper sheet from a paper rest to the image forming unit; a housing containing the image forming unit and the paper sheet feeding mechanism, and having a paper sheet outlet through which a printed paper sheet is emitted; and a paper sheet output tray for receiving the printed paper sheet emitted from the paper sheet outlet of the housing, wherein the paper sheet output tray has a pull-out tray that can be freely pulled out from or put in the paper sheet outlet tray and is supported by the housing, an extension tray that can be freely pulled out from or put in the pull-out tray for extending a tray and a stopper provided at the extension tray for preventing the paper sheet emitted from the paper sheet outlet from bouncing out of the paper sheet outlet tray; an opening in which the stopper rises up or lays down is formed on the extension tray; the stopper is a flat plate formed so as to substantially match with the opening in shape, is rotatably pivoted in the opening at a position shifted from a center axis of the stopper so as to be held by self-weight at an angle of about 90 degrees with respect to a top face of the extension tray, protrudes upwards with respect to a top face of the extension tray at its first end, protrudes downwards with respect to a bottom face of the extension tray at its second end when the stopper is rotated to form an angle of about 90 degrees with respect to a top face of the extension tray, and fits to the opening to form the substantially same flat face as the top face of the extension tray when the stopper is held in substantially parallel with the top face of the extension tray; the pull-out tray has a holding portion contacting with a bottom face in the vicinity of the second end of the stopper and rotating the stopper, thereby holding the stopper in substantially parallel with the extension tray when the extension tray is put in the pull-out tray; and when the extension tray is pulled out, holding of the stopper by the holding portion is released, the stopper rotates by self-weight and the first end of the stopper protrudes from the top face of the extension tray. 